Richard Rogers' Lloyd's building Grade 1 Listed

Postmodern landmark is given special status by English Heritage

The postmodernist landmark Lloyd's building in central London has been given Grade I listing by the Heritage Minister John Penrose . It is being singled out for its radicle design and architectural innovation. It is one of outstanding British heritage importance.The building designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership stands the test of time with its awe-inspiring futuristic design.” Its listing at the highest grade is a fitting recognition of the sheer splendour of Richard Rogers’ heroic design. Its dramatic scale and visual dazzle, housing a hyper-efficient commercial complex, is universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch.

Richard George Rogers now Baron Rogers of Riverside CH Kt FRIBA FCSD was born 23 July 1933) is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs. Rogers is perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome both in London, and the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg. He is a winner of the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal and Pritzker Prize.

Rogers was born in Florence in 1933. He attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, before graduating with a master's degree from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow student Norman Foster. On returning to England he and Foster set up architectural practice as Team 4 with their respective wives, Su Brumwell and Wendy Cheeseman. They quickly earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture. By 1967 the Foster/Rogers partnership had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual 'Zip Up' house,such as the use of standardised components based on refrigerator panels to make energy-efficient buildings. Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he and Piano won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.

This building established Rogers's trademark of exposing most of the building's services (water, heating and ventilation ducts, and stairs) on the exterior, leaving the internal spaces uncluttered and open for visitors to the centre's art exhibitions. This style, dubbed "Bowellism" by some critics, was not universally popular at the time the centre opened in 1977, but today the Pompidou Centre is a widely admired Parisian landmark. Rogers revisited this inside-out style with his design for London's Lloyd's building, completed in 1986 - another controversial design which has since become a famous and distinctive landmark in its own right.

INTERACT WITH US

MEMBERS

LONDON ART NETWORK

ArtLyst is the most comprehensive art information website in London. It was created to distribute up-to-date contemporary art news, events, exhibitions, fairs, and auctions. We focus on new and emerging art, including pop-up and temporary exhibitions. Our Web 2.0 social-networking platform allows you to post your professional profile and exhibit work in your own unique gallery. All galleries are curated, vetted, and FREE. The ArtLyst publishing platform gathers together news, reviews, resources, classifieds, and articles. Publish yourself, contribute and reach a wide audience!